There are numerous devices available that are used in the water, such as for swimming. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,634,834, 6,083,067, 6,435,927, 6,620,010, and the references cited therein, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Some of these devices can be used for competitive swimming (i.e., pullbuoys), some of the devices can be used for recreational swimming (i.e., floating tubes), and others can be used in instructional swimming (i.e., kickboards). One common characteristic of many such swimming devices is that the device supports a part of the body and helps it to float.
Many of the known swimming devices, however, suffer from some important drawbacks. For example, one common limitation with some swimming devices is that they do not allow a user's face to be placed in the water during operation (which can be helpful in basic swimming instruction). As well, many of the swimming devices that are used as teaching aids are really not an aid, but when used can turn out to be a crutch. In this example, kickboards are often used as a floating aid while teaching a person to swim, but do not allow for the face to be placed in the water. Unfortunately, the person learns to float with the kickboard and this can detract from the ability of the individual to learn to float (and swim) without this floating aid.
As well, many of the known swimming devices are awkward to use and are limited to a single use. For example, kickboards can be difficult and awkward to used, especially for novice swimmers or those learning to swim. In another example, float tubes (and pullbuoys) are generally limited in their uses, i.e., a limited amount of support for only a single part of the body (i.e., arms for the float tubes and legs for pullbuoys).
There are also water devices that are used for floating and other recreational uses. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,347,971 and 6,213,832, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Many of such devices use a foam tube known as a WATER NOODLE that is bent into various shapes (such as a chair) and a supporting mechanism for the body is added. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,520,561, 5,571,036, 5,885,123, and 6,276,979, and the patents cited therein, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The supporting mechanism in these devices often contains a sleeve around the foam tube. Such sleeves provide the advantage of being easy assembled and easily adjustable lengthwise along the device, but not allow for adjustment widthwise. As well, the sleeves are prone to slip easily. When the sleeve slips, it typically does not provide the desired support function for the user. As well, these devices are primarily used for recreational and floating uses, and can be very difficult to use for exercise or instructional uses.